Once Upon a Time
by minimerc
Summary: TenLee. After his battle, Lee's in the hospital and who comes to visit him... Merry Christmas Oniisan!


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and/or its characters.

WARNING: Some spoilers... :P Read at your own discression.... if I spelled that right

_**Once Upon a Time…**_

It wasn't your normal fairytale story. Nope, not in the least. There was no rich, handsome prince. No damsel in distress. It was just a boy and a girl that finally realized what was so obvious to their other teammate and sensei.

She stood outside of a hospital room, wringing her hands nervously. That was a new one, Tenten _nervous_? Something was definitely wrong.

After much debating, she wrapped her slender fingers around the doorknob and opened a bit. She peeked her head through. "Ano…"

She spotted her target and the red haired young man that sat next to him. They were talking to each other, but once they heard her voice, their conversation ceased. They turned to look at her.

"Ah! Tenten!" her target,a young man with the bowl shaped haircut called her, flashing her one of his blinding smiles.

She couldn't help but smile back and let out a silence sigh of relief, "I see you're busy, so I'll-"

"Don't be silly. Come on in." he motioned her in. Gaara, Tenten. Tenten, Gaara of the Desert."

"Lee, I know who Gaara is." She told him, a little irritated as she walked into the room. She stopped about ten feet away from the two boys. An eerie silence filled the room.

"I will be leaving now." The red haired shinobi told them as he stood from his seat and turned to make his leave.

"But Gaara, you just got here." Lee whined.

Gaara turned back to look at Konoha's Blue Beast, "That means I've been here too long. Your stupidity may infect me."

"What was that!?!?!" Lee shouted indignantly as Tenten giggled.

"I do not have time to repeat myself." He turned away again, "And take better care of yourself. You wanted a rematch, right? I refuse to fight you again if you stay this weak."

The sand shinobi began to exit the room as Tenten stood her ground.He passed her, but the sand nin stopped and whispered so only she could hear, "He jumped down to save you, while he let the other girl fall. He considers you one of his very special people…" He then continued towards the door and out the room, closing the door behind him. Silence fell between the two of them as neither of them looked at each other.

Tenten looked down and clenched her fist tightly together. _Why is this so _hard, she thought as she tried to open her mouth and speak, but words failed her. Damn that Gaara. He got her all worked up again. She needed to be normal. This was _just_ Lee. Her teammate as of two years last week. Her best friend. It wasn't like she was in love with him of anything…right?

The silence began to eat at her nerves. She began to get angrier and angrier by the second. Why wouldn't he say something! That was the last stray. She walked over to him slowly and…bashed him in his thick skull.

"Itai!!!" he whined. "What did you do that for?!" He rubbed his head gingerly as a large bump began to grow.

Tears welled up in her eyes. "You…you idiot!"

"Tenten…" Lee looked away, "Gomen. I just wanted…"

"You just wanted… Screw what you wanted. Hell it scared me when I thought I was going to lose you the first time! Then you go and leave right after your operation to chase after Sasuke. You could have died!!! And where would that leave our team? Where would that leave me, Lee? Did you ever think about how I might feel if you…if you…"

"Gomen…"

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Lee." "You're always so damn selfish and selfless at the same time. For once, think about how the people you'll leave behind will feel… You're only human. You can't do it all, no matter what Gai-sensei tell you. And human lives are such fragile things… It's easy to lose a life, but to live one is so hard. Especially if it's without people you care about…"

"Tenten…" he couldn't really think of anything else to say. Normally he would just tell her he was sorry and look guiltily away and she would yell at him, but she wasn't yelling. She sounded like she was hurt, her voice cracking and tears staining her face. He had never seen her like this. Normally Tenten would never allow anyone to see her like this. Damn…he really screwed up this time…but maybe; just maybe, "I promise I'll never leave you without you knowing it! That is a promise of a lifetime!" and his teeth sparkled.

The brunette blinked a few times. "What?"

"I promise that I will never leave you without having you know about it, okay?"

"Lee, that's besides the…" but she trailed off. This was Lee she was talking to. There was no way he would _not _do something dangerous again. But at least with this promise, she would be the first to know, instead of finding out from a second source by the name of Haruno Sakura. She then placed her hands on her hips and smirked lightly, "Don't make promises you can't keep."

He smiled back at her, a true smile, as he pumped his fist in the air, "Yosh!"

She giggled. She really did miss his old antics. She leaned down and pecked him on the cheek, pulling away a little quickly. She cleared her throat. "The deal has now been seal." She told him, a small blush covering her cheeks while she looked everywhere else other than his face.

Of course if she saw the Blue Beast's face, she may have started cracking up. A mixture of shock, awe, embarrassment, pleasure, and denial danced across his face. "Te-Tenten… w-w-w-why'd y-you…?"

"Are you that stupid Lee? Did I hit you too hard on the head earlier?" He blinked a few times, leaning away from the girl in fear of being beaten over the head again. She sighed and then took a few breaths, "I like you Lee… I like you a lot. Some may even go as far as say love, but I'm not one of those people… yet. But as you chased after Haruno Sakura, I guess you overlooked it… Sometimes I wonder who's denser: you or Naruto."

"Y-y-you like me? But I thought… Neji…"

"You would think that wouldn't you? Most people do, but I'm not interested in Neji other than a training partner and surrogate brother. You do notice that I came to see you first, right?" She was getting frustrated. She told him her feelings and now he was trying to tell her they are a lie?! Lee was looking like the denser one now.

He remained quiet as he looked down at his lap.

"I give up… Screw what Gaara said. 'He jumped down to save you, while he let the other girl fall.' Obviously you care about her more than you do me. It was just easier to get to me or something."

Lee's eyes lit up. That was true. He did jump down and save Tenten from hitting a wall and take her to safety, but he stayed in his spot on the platform as Sakura was knocked out cold instead of going down there and bringing her up. Hell, he almost got into a serious fight with the kunoichi of Suna over it. He still carried more of a grudge with Temari than he did with Gaara.

She looked away, sadly. He wasn't denying any of her words, so they must have been true. Now all she wanted to do was to get out of this room. To get away from him. Maybe even crawl into a small hole somewhere and die. She bared her heart and soul, but all he would ever care about is that Haruno girl. Damn her.

She began to move away from his bed, but a strong hand on her wrist stopped her, "Tenten… you know that's not true. It would have been much easier to have just have let you hit the wall, but what kind of man would I be if I let the girl I care about smash into concrete." He said, his normal gleaming smile on his face. His smile then disappeared, "Gaara needs to not interfere with other people's business though… I only showed interest in Sakura-san because I thought I was in the way of your and Neji's relationship." He placed his other hand behind his back, "I guess I got mixed signals… sorry it took me so long. We all know I'm a little slow."

"You don't need to make me feel better…"

He turned her around and stared directly into her eyes, his stare was so intensely serious. "Tenten, have I ever lied to you before?"

"No… but…" she looked away, a little ashamed with herself for not believing him, but still a bit doubtful.

"Now who's the one being dense?

"Hey!" she punched him playfully on the arm… his bad arm…

"ITAI!!!"

"Ah! Gomen Lee… I forgot…

He then brought his other arm around her waist and made her sit in his lap, "No pain, no gain, right?" He gave her a cheeky smile and a kiss on the forehead. Of course he was in actual pain, but it didn't really matter. He'd take the pain any day just to be with her.

So it turns out that the weirdest looking guy gets one of the cutest girls. No one really saw it coming and not many people can believe it. But Neji just smiles knowingly after the two when they leave together after training and Gai-sensei cries for joy. The two are perfect for each other, no matter what others may think. And if they decide to voice their negative comments, they usually find a kunai imbedded in an object a few inches away from their throats.

Yep. The perfect couple.

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Blah… Merry Christmas Oniisan!!!!! ::glomps:: I hope I did a good job.

-minimerc


End file.
